Personal cleansing products have traditionally been marketed in a variety of forms such as bar soaps, creams, lotions, and gels. These cleansing formulations have attempted to satisfy a number of criteria to be acceptable to consumers. These criteria include cleansing effectiveness, skin feel, mildness to skin, hair, and ocular mucosae, and lather volume. Ideal personal cleansers should gently cleanse the skin or hair, cause little or no irritation, and not leave the skin or hair overly dry after frequent use.
However, these traditional forms of personal cleansing products have the inherent problem of balancing cleansing efficacy against delivering a conditioning benefit. One solution to this problem is to use separate cleansing and conditioning products. However, this is not always convenient or practical and many consumers would prefer to use a single product which can both cleanse and condition the skin or hair. In a typical cleansing composition the conditioning ingredients are difficult to formulate because many conditioners are incompatible with the surfactants, resulting in an undesirable non-homogenous mixture. To obtain a homogeneous mixture with conditioning ingredients, and to prevent the loss of conditioning ingredients prior to deposition, additional ingredients, e.g. emulsifiers, thickeners, and gellants are often added to suspend the conditioning ingredients within the surfactant mixture. This results in an aesthetically pleasing homogenous mixture, but often results in poor deposition of conditioning ingredients, because the conditioners are emulsified and not efficiently released during cleansing. Also, many conditioning agents have the disadvantage of suppressing lather generation. Lather suppression is a problem because many consumers seek cleansing products that provide a rich, creamy, and generous lather.
Therefore, it is seen that conventional cleansing products which attempt to combine surfactants and conditioning ingredients suffer from disadvantages inherently resulting from the incompatibilities of surfactants and conditioners. A need clearly exists to develop cleansing systems which provide effective cleansing and yet provide sufficient conditioning in a single product.
It is also highly desirable to deliver cleansing and conditioning benefits from a disposable, single use product. Disposable products are convenient because they obviate the need to carry cumbersome bottles, bars, jars, tubes, and other forms of both cleansing and conditioning products. Disposable products are also a more sanitary alternative to the use of a sponge, washcloth, or other cleansing implement intended for multiple reuse, because such implements develop bacterial growth, unpleasant odors, and other undesirable characteristics related to repeated use.
It has been surprisingly found in the present invention that products can be developed to provide effective cleansing and conditioning in a convenient, cost effective, and sanitary disposable personal cleansing product. The present invention provides the convenience of not needing to use both a separate cleansing and conditioning product. The present invention is highly convenient to use because it is in the form of a substantially dry product that is wetted before use.
The present invention relates to a dry, disposable, personal cleansing product useful for both cleansing and conditioning the skin or hair. These products are used by the consumer by wetting the dry product with water. The product consists of a water insoluble substrate, a surfactant, and a conditioning component. Without being limited by theory, it is believed that the substrate enhances lathering at low surfactant levels, increases cleansing and exfoliation, and optimizes delivery and deposition of the conditioning ingredients. As a result, this invention provides effective cleansing using low, and hence less irritating, levels of surfactant while providing superior conditioning benefits. It has also been found that these products are usefull for delivering a wide range of active ingredients to the skin or hair during the cleansing process.
It has also been found that certain process and compositional improvements greatly enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of delivering conditioning agents to the skin or hair. These process and compositional improvements allow the same or better effect from the conditioning agents at lower levels by maintaining the conditioning agents on the surface of the substrate.
It is therefore, an object of the present invention to provide substantially dry products for both cleansing and conditioning the skin or hair wherein the products are used in combination with water.
It is another object of the present invention to provide products comprising a water insoluble substrate, a surfactant, and a conditioning component.
It is another object of the present invention to provide products that efficiently and effectively deliver conditioning agents to the skin.
It is another object of the present invention to provide products that provide a cost savings by delivering the same or better effect at lower levels of conditioning agents.
It is another object of the present invention to provide products that have a surface to saturation ratio of greater than about 1.25 at any point on the surface of the substrate.
It is another object of the present invention to provide products comprising a conditioning agent substantially on the surface of the substrate.
It is another object of the present invention to provide products which are disposable and intended for single use.
It is another object of the present invention to provide products which are mild to the skin or hair.
It is another object of the present invention to provide products useful for delivering active ingredients in combination with the conditioning ingredients to the skin or hair during the cleansing and conditioning process.
It is another object of the present invention to provide methods of cleansing and conditioning the skin or hair.
It is another object of the present invention to provide methods of manufacturing the products of the present invention.
These and other objects of this invention will become apparent in light of the following disclosure.